Battle to save troubled Spiderman musical with drastic revamp

The lights have gone out on Broadway blockbuster Spiderman: Turn off the Dark, which has taken a three-week break to begin rehearsals on a new version of the show.

The Edge was at the Foxwoods Theater off Times Square on Sunday night to watch the final performance of the original version of the musical which he co-wrote with Bono. The U2 front man is due to join him in New York later this week to work on new songs for the reworked musical.

The $70m production is the most expensive ever staged on Broadway, and despite a record 140 previews it never officially opened. While the doors are closed to the public, cast members were back at rehearsals yesterday (Mon).

“We don’t get a break. The show has shut down but I’m still working,” said Reeve Carney, who plays Spiderman/Peter Parker. “For the past few weeks we have been rehearsing the new show, while performing the old show at night. It’s going to be great to be able to focus on one thing again.”

Producers are still putting the finishing touches to the revised version of the show, which they hope will be more crowd-pleasing and easier to understand than the vision created by director Julie Taymor, who has been replaced. New director Phillip William McKinley is putting more focus on the love story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and the battle with the villain Green Goblin. The character of villainous spider-woman Arachne, which had a central role in Taymor’s production, is to be scaled back significantly, and a Greek chorus of four singers who narrated the show is to be dropped altogether.

Cast members held up a handwritten sign saying “Back May 12” during the curtain call at Sunday’s final show, and a special ovation was given to the four young actors who are leaving the show. “It’s so bittersweet because we are saying goodbye to some friends who we’ve worked with that’s become like family,” said TV Carpio, who plays Arachne. The stunning actress displayed no bitterness about the fact that her role was being reduced significantly. “The key thing to know here is that we all want the best show that it can be,” she said, “So whatever that means, at least we have an opportunity to improve.”

Patrick Page, who plays the Green Goblin, said he believed the changes will make it a better show.

“It’s going to be a lot more fun  for me, for the Green Goblin, let me tell you,” he said, “I think fans of the comic book will be very pleased.”

Jennifer Damiano, who plays Mary Jane, said she believed the new version would put “a lighter spin on things”. “They have their reasons for wanting to change things and my job is just to make that work,” she said.

All of the cast members were quick to pay tribute to departing director Julie Taymor, none more so than Reeve Carney, who was plucked from obscurity and cast in the lead role. “She sort of created me,” he said, “I mean I wouldn’t be here without her. So I feel very confident and very good about the fact that it’s not erasing what she’s done, it’s just having a little extra help. It’s great to be able to work with two directors. It’s never happened before on the same project.”

Bono and the Edge are known to be working on at least two new songs for the show, and Carney said he believes one of them has the potential to be an international hit. “All I’ll say is that one of the new songs is one of my favorites and I’m really excited about it,” he said.

It remains to be seen if the reworked version can win over critics who mauled the original production as the biggest flop ever seen on Broadway and beyond repair. Despite this the show was seen by more than 285,000 people and raked in more than $25m at the box office. That’s a lot of money but not enough to break even, and without a credible show, producers won’t be able to proceed with plans to expand productions to London, Las Vegas and international tours in the future.

Previews of the new version begin on May 12, with the official opening now scheduled for Tuesday June 14^th.